Lamp



March 7, 1944.

w. P. WAGNER LAMP Filed Sept. 2, 1941 Sill fired ATTORNEY-S.

Patented Mar. 7, 1944- LAMP "Willys P Wagner, Franklin, Mich" assignorto Ford Motor-Company, Dearborn, l Mich a corporation of" Delaware .Appli'cationscptember 2, .1941, Serial No. 409,242

(01. ale-7.1

3 Claims.

This invention relates to illuminating :devices; and, more particularly, @tosailight unit of transparent material, including. in onestructure a: light transmitting portion and an opaque :framing portion or bezel.

,Anrobject-of this invention isto-obtain-a lamp constructed with a unitary, transparent body, and so treating the interior: thereof to obtain" the "efiect of a transparent lens supported 'byaametallie or other opaque body or. bezel.

One. advantage of this invention .overthe.- conventional construction of :a" transparent lens set in a metallic shell is :the 1' economy of :material. The conventional structure, such :as 'is -used in automobiles for rear lights, parking light, :etc., "generally requires "chrome plating or the :like to harmonize with the remainder -:.of the :vehicle. This treatment is not only expensive, butzthe materials therefor, whether IOfEDiCkL ZOODPGIiOI chromium, are no longer.'freelyavailable:forzsuch claimed in .the .claims, and illustrated in 'the accompanying. drawing, inwhich:

Figure .l-is aperspective View of a lamp. embodying the invention.

Figure 2 is a plan view of the-lamp.

Figure 3 is "a longitudinal sectional elevation taken on the line 33 of Figure 2 showing the method of attachment of the lamp to an automobile body.

Figure 4 is a transverse sectional elevation taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 3.

Referring to the accompanying drawing, a lamp In is illustrated which may be used as a parking light in a motor vehicle. Its counterpart, so far as superficial appearance goes, may be found in almost every present-day motor vehicle. However, instead of being constructed, as heretofore, with a metallic shell and a lens inset, it is here formed from a single piece of glass or other transparent material, inner portions of which are silvered to give ans external metallic effect while leaving the lensportionthereof clear.

"Figure l thusdiscloses an embodiment inwhich -the. lamp It! has the silvered'or.opaque bodyportions all andthe clear .or lens portions l2. In this figure, the silvered :extent, which corresponds r to the. metallic *bodyof -'the :conventional lamp, is indicated by 'dash lines.

Considering the: construction 1 in detail, -as best :showniin Figure '3, the lampshell Hlis molded in one piece from "glass ortran'sparent plastic. The lens portion 12, which may have .any desired "optical characteristica-is shown 'to have a bullseye I3 and a number of;echelon lenses 25. In the designshown, the bodyofthe lens-is substantially semicylindrical through "the center portion M, and as a decorative -feature has certain smaller complementary bodieszat each.end,.=such as IE3. -'At.flange i6 curves aroundithe' entire body, as *showniin Figure 2, and when thelight-isinstalled in amotor vehicle,.the face-of .this flange'lfi rests against the inner surfaceof the ibody: sheet I! of the vehicle, asfshown: in Figure 3. The flange, at

each:end,'has=a recessil8'which isislotted'asat I8 .to accommodate f asteningzmeans' .2 2' by which the :basezplate 20:.can'be securedtoithe lampiand the "entire structure. may 'be secured atthe :proper place in the vehicle. 'This "may he: done :by' spot Welding stirrups 23 toithe :bddy lf'ka'djacent each end of the lampandproviding=.extensions 26 on the :plate 20 which maybe secured thereto by bolts .24. The socket 28 secured to theiplate 29 receives the bulb 21.

As stated'previously, the entire lamp is molded from. a suitable transparentmaterial. This may be glass, as in the present instance, orany one of the numerous plastics. The transparent portion, as represented by the' lens-in thefinished article,

' needsno 'further' processing. The remainder of 'thebody, "such as is i indicated" as s'ilveredin Figure 1,-is treatedto giveitthemetallic appearance desired. This is done by silveringv the inner surface of the fixture throughout its entire extent, except in the area noted on the drawing as being clear. While the phrase silvering is used, it will be understood that this is meant as the word is used in connection with mirrors or similar objects in which any one of a number of diiferent coating preparations or methods may be used to secure the desired mirror-like efiect. Actually, of course, silver itself is rarely used, but the phrase will be well-known to those skilled in the art. The deposition of this slight metallic coating creates the external impression of a metallic substance and, after application, the glass portion so treated will on cursory examination appear to be metal and the illusion is that; normally obtained from lamps constructed of actual metal stampings suitably plated and polished.

Inasmuch as no particular reflecting surface is desired in the interior, the inner surface of the silvering material is protected by a further layer of suitable paint or other substance which will prevent it from being damaged by handling or by the absorption of moisture. The application of these two coatings in the interior of the fixture gives the desired metallic effect and insures that it will be permanent and not subject to damage.

For structural reasons, it is necessary that the transparent material used be relatively thick. In the present instance, for an object of the size shown, the thickness of the glass used is about one-eighth of an inch. When glass of this size is used, and even more noticeably in the case of certain plastics, it is found that the lamp has a tendency to reflect some of the light internally and an edge-lighting efiect is obtained. This is undesirable in the present instance because it destroys the illusion sought-namely, that of the clear lens and opaque body. A lens which has this edge-lighting will not appear neat and concise when lighted. It has been found, however, that to avoid this a suitable offset must be provided between the opaque body I l of the lamp, which is coated internally, and the clear lens. This is best illustrated in Figure 3 in which the lens portion 12 is defined by the dot-and-dash line. It will be understood that the entire remainder of the inner surface of the fixture is silvered and rendered opaque. To prevent the internal transmission of light, the clear lens has been considerably offset from the body proper so that the inner surface of the lens is disposed at least even with or above the outer surface of the silvered portion. Further, the silvering is carried up the lens offset 2| on each side. When this is done, the efiective continuity of the glass structure is broken insofar as the tendency to edge-light" is concerned and it will be found that the light will be confined to the desired clear portion and will not be transmitted elsewhere throughout the body of the lamp.

A lamp fixture has thus been devised which, while of unitary structure and employing only a very minimum of metallic substances, gives the impression of a conventional lamp having a metallic body and a lens separable therefrom. This lamp is more economical to manufacture with the present shortage of materials and uses those which are more readily available.

In practice, the lamp l0, together with the at tached base plate 20, including the conventional socket, wiring and bulb--none of which are shown on the drawing-will be furnished as a single unit for assembly with the motor vehicle. The method and means of assembling it have been explained with reference to Figure 3.

Some changes may be made in the arrangement, construction and combination of the various parts of the improved device without departing from the spirit of the invention, and it is the intention to cover by the claims such changes as may be reasonably included within the scope thereof.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a lamp structure, a panel support, a lamp assembly comprising, a lamp, an integral shell of transparent material, an opaque coating applied to portions of the interior of said shell, other portions thereof remaining uncoated and bein transparent, said uncoated portion constituting a lens structure, said coated portions serving as a bezel and body therefor, an integral flange on said shell, a substantially flat closure engaging said flange on one side thereof and secured thereto, said panel being cut away to receive said shell which extends therethrough, the other side of said flange engaging said panel to maintain the assembly in place, said coating extending over such portions of the interior as to prevent internal reflection of light emitted from said lamp through said body portion.

2. In an article of the type described, an integral shell of transparent material comprising, a lens portion, and a body portion, said lens portion being offset from said body and joined thereto by walls extending substantially normal to said body, a coating having a metallic effect applied to the inner surface of said body and of said extending walls, to render them opaque and to give an external metallic impression throughout such visible extent, said lens portion being uncoated and remaining clear and transparent for the transmission of light therethrough, the inner surface of said lens being disposed above the adjacent outer surface of said body to prevent edge lighting through said structure.

3. In an article of the class described, an integral shell of transparent material comprising a lens portion, a body portion and an intermediate wall portion between said lens and body portions, said wall portion extending substantially normal to said body and lens portions, a thin coating having a metallic effect applied to the inner surface of said body and wall to render them opaque and to give an external metallic impression throughout the visible extent thereof, said lens portion being uncoated and remaining clear and transparent, said extending wall being of sufficient height to offset said lens substantially from the adjacent body, said opaqued wall portion establishing an area of demarcation between said lens and said body to prevent edge lighting effects in said body.

WILLYS P. WAGNER. 

